As the political aftershocks from Rep. Joe Barton’s expression of sympathy for British Petroleum continue, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel promised Sunday that President Barack Obama hopes to make sure that voters don’t forget the gaffe anytime soon.

Emanuel tore into the GOP over Barton’s apology for the government’s treatment of the company responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, saying on ABC’s “This Week,” that “in case you forgot what Republican governance was like, Joe Barton reminded you.”

“There is a choice that Joe Barton has offered the American people, a philosophy for the Republican Party, which is that BP is the aggrieved party,” Emanuel said. “In the coming weeks, you'll see the president speak to the country about these competing different philosophies. That is, do you have only the energy executives in the room, or do you have energy executives, environmentalists, and other people from the venture capital community to come to a consensus on energy policy? Do you think that BP is the aggrieved party here? Do you think that Wall Street should be left alone and not have any reforms? Elections are about choices. Those are what is fundamental. There is a difference in our philosophies. And not only in our philosophies, (but) how we make sure that America strengthens its economy.”

In his prepared remarks during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the oil spill with BP executives, Barton, a Texas Republican, said he was “ashamed” of the White House’s pressure on BP to create a $20 billion escrow fund to compensate business owners and residents along the Gulf Coast who are facing economic hardship because of the spill. “I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporate can be subjected to what I would characterize as a ‘shakedown.’ In this case a $20 billion shakedown,” Barton said.

Republicans have distanced themselves from Barton’s comments and immediately pressured him to apologize. But Democrats are trying to make the comments stick.

Emanuel said Barton’s comments represent a broader GOP view, insisting that “major voices in the Republican Party” have also come to the defense of BP, including Rand Paul, the Republican Senate nominee in Kentucky.

“That's not a political gaffe, those were prepared remarks. That is a philosophy. That is an approach to what they see. They see the aggrieved party here is BP, not the fishermen,” Emanuel said. “And remember, this is not just one person. Rand Paul, running for Senate in Kentucky, what did he say? He said the way BP was being treated was un-American.”

Emanuel, a former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Barton’s comments are “dangerous for the American people” because if the GOP wins control of the House in November’s midterm elections, Barton would become chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

“They think the government is the problem,” Emanuel said of Republicans. “And I think what Joe Barton did is remind the American people, in case they've forgotten, this is how the Republicans would govern.”

Some Democrats, including Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, David Plouffe, called for Barton to step down. Emanuel wouldn’t go there. “That's for the Republicans to decide,” he said.

Instead he showed how Barton’s comments might factor into the midterm elections this fall, a debate that the White House is trying to focus on the proper role of government.

“In the coming weeks, the president is going to lay out a competing agenda, one that talks about an energy policy, one that talks about the essential needs of passing . . . reform for Wall Street, one that makes sure that small business companies are getting the capital they need to grow and expand, and one that is also – that talks about the need that we also have of a rebuilt America,” Emanuel said.